Flowers, strong finish lead to Western Michigan’s victory

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Michael Flowers scored 18 points and Western Michigan rallied to defeat Kent State 67-63 on Saturday.

Brandon Johnson had 12 points and eight rebounds for Western Michigan (9-9, 2-3 Mid-American Conference). Rafael Cruz Jr. added 11 points and B. Artis White had 10 points.

The Broncos trailed by double digits with 9 minutes, 36 seconds to go but closed the game with a 24-10 run. Johnson’s layup gave Western Michigan a 63-62 lead with one minute to go. Flowers made two free throws with 22 seconds left and Johnson capped the victory, making two from the line with five seconds left.

Western Michigan led 30-25 at halftime but quickly fell behind in the second half. Kent State went up by 10 on a layup by Danny Pippen with 11:43 to go and a jumper from Antonio Williams gave them another 10-point lead at 9:36.

Anthony Roberts had 19 points for the Golden Flashes (13-5, 3-2). Williams added 15 points and six rebounds. Troy Simons had 12 points.

Western Michigan plays at Buffalo on Tuesday. Kent State plays Northern Illinois at home on Tuesday.